Touches You

Simply Perfect

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The story told is set during Israel's 1982 war in Lebanon. It is filmed entirely inside an Israeli tank placing us amongst the claustrophobic restrictions and imprisonment that would be experienced by the crew.Young, inexperienced Israeli conscripts operate the tank and find it hard to deal with the horror of war. They witness the carnage wreaked upon many Lebanese civilians and the immoral, brutality of aspects of the Lebanese militia. The soldiers experience the fear of war as their tank becomes stranded in hostile territory. The director took part in the war and the film is therefore semi-autobiographical.

The film opens with a new crewman getting into a tank; from that moment to the final scene the viewer is effectively trapped inside the tank with its crew. The only views we get of what is going on outside is the restrictive view through the gun sight. When the film starts the tank, call sign 'Rhino', is in Israel but soon it is heading north into Lebanon where its crew will learn what war can be like. They aren't really aware why they have been ordered to go to war and it soon becomes apparent that some of them aren't really prepared for what they will be expected to do... as the gunner learns shooting at people is nothing like shooting at barrels! Their first encounter leaves one infantryman dead along with an innocent chicken farmer. When they get to the town which they believed to have been cleared things get tenser as they encounter more resistance than they expected and after the tank is damaged it looks as if they could be trapped in enemy territory.Inside the tank the conscript crew are bickering before they have even seen action with the loader moaning about being ordered to keep watch. Then when the action does begin the gunner can't bring himself to open fire when a car approaches which leads to the death of a soldier. It is clear that none of the conscripts wants to be there as they question just about every order given to them by the commander and by the officer who visits them occasionally to give them further orders.I can't speak for the realism of the film, but as its writer/director based it on his memories of serving in a tank in Lebanon I can only assume it is accurate... more importantly it works as a film. By only showing us what is happening in the tank and the limited view through the site the viewer feels the claustrophobia more than if we had regular external shots of the tank. What we do see through the sight is a snapshot of the brutality of war; a soldier bleeding to death, a woman left naked after her dress catches fire and a maimed donkey dying in the road. Director Samuel Maoz does a fine job bringing his story to the scene; as do the small cast of actors inside the tank. If you are looking for a war film which is about people caught up in the war rather than about gung-ho action you could do a lot worse than this.

Writer/director Samuel Maoz has created in his film LEBANON a statement about war we are not likely to forget. Based on his own experiences, this film about the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon in June of 1982 (the first Lebanon war) internalizes the responses of young soldiers sent on a mission that should have seemed simple but became anything but simple. The reason the film's message is so strong is that it forces four young, virginal soldiers in a tiny enclosed atmosphere where they must by proximity depend on each other to confront the whole question of the validity of war. It is exceptionally powerful. A solitary army tank and a small platoon of paratroopers are sent to assure that a hostile Lebanese town bombed by the Israelis is secure. In the tank are four soldiers - Shmulik (Yoav Donat), Assi (Itay Tiran), Hertzel (the exceptionally handsome and brilliant Oshri Cohen), and Yigal (Michael Moshonov). They are not seasoned soldiers and what lies outside their protective tank is terrifying to them. Inside the tank is a claustrophobic, filthy, smoky, and foul smelling space where the four soldiers are able to view the effects of war and their tenuous grasp on reality through only the periscope of the tank. Occasionally the lid of the tank is opened to drop in a casualty along with a moment of fresh air to breathe, but basically these four men must grapple with the horrors of killing and destruction outside their tank. The aspects of human frailty that war exposes appear like autopsies on the minds and gradual mental deterioration that overtakes each of these vulnerable and emotionally unprepared young men. They may attempt humor but it is thwarted by the gore outside their iron shield of the tank where Lebanese soldiers attack and mothers suffer the loss of their children in the bombings and shootings of the little village. Maoz wisely places enough of the battle scenes outside the confines of the tank, making the audience as shocked by the atrocities of war as viewed from the exterior as the restricted glimpses of that war available to the tank crew. This is most assuredly an anti-war film but rather than waving flags of attack and endless scenes of gore, Maoz keeps it distilled and in doing so makes it even more horrific. The cast is brilliant, delivering performances so well crafted that they linger in the minds eye long after the film is over. The haunting musical score is by Nicolas Becker and Benoît Delbecq and the almost impossible cinematography is by Giora Bejach . In Hebrew, Arabic, French and English with subtitles. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

ihrtfilms did a lovely job reviewing this film and I agree with every word. MY additional comments are based on the fact that I am a VERY nit-picky person when watching a film. I drive people nuts when I point out faults in this or that. With that being said, I can SEE where some might find fault with some of the particular errors in this film (i.e. the lack of helmets) but to be truthful, though I am ONE OF THEM, I was so caught up in the intensity of this film, I didn't even notice the irregularities.This film IS intense and very well acted. I literally was on the edge of the couch I usually lay back on while watching movies and it takes a fair amount to get me on that edge.Lebanon may not be perfect, but it's perfectly good. I could find no fault with it and didn't even try. It sucks you in from the minute it starts. The very fact that you NEVER LEAVE THE TANK is amazing. If you are even remotely claustrophobic, maybe you shouldn't watch this movie. You might be in your own home in a spacious room with windows and everything, but once you get into this movie, you feel like you're with the crew and they won't let you out until the end.I won't say more primarily because, as simple as the story line is, it's a complex movie and to say much, would say TOO much.